Egypt's role in the Gaza ceasefire

The role of Egypt's president Mohammed Morsi in the ceasefire was pivotal. He had to shuttle between meetings with Israel and Hamas representatives. There had been doubts about whether an Islamist government would be able to deal with Israel while still exerting influence on Hamas. Lina Khatib heads Stanford University's Program on Arab Reform and Democracy and she spoke with PM.

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MARK COLVIN: The role of Egypt's president Mohammed Morsi in the ceasefire was pivotal. He had to shuttle between meetings with Israel and Hamas representatives.

There had been doubts about whether an Islamist government would be able to deal with Israel, while still exerting influence on Hamas.

LINA KHATIB: President Morsi of Egypt has managed to both appeal to Hamas as well as appeal to Israel, while at the same time garnering thanks from president Obama of the United States.

So basically Hamas is praising Egypt, the United States is praising Egypt. Morsi is seeing this as his opportunity to claim a leading role in the Middle East as a whole.

MARK COLVIN: How different was this time from, say, four years ago when president Mubarak was still in power.

LINA KHATIB: Very different. When Mubarak was still in power and Israel attacked Gaza in late 2008-2009 the Arab world in general did not do much because at the time most Arab leaders distanced themselves from the Hamas leadership.

This time the situation was different. Morsi was the first to send his foreign minister to Egypt after the Israeli attack started. And there was a delegation of Arab foreign ministers that also went to Gaza yesterday.

This is very different, this means that the Arab world in general is seeing a shift towards further acceptance of Hamas as a legitimately elected leadership in Palestine and I think it signals a positive step forward towards Palestinian reconciliation as well.

MARK COLVIN: What about Palestinian reconciliation though? Does this all strengthen Hamas at the expense of Fatah and Mahmoud Abbas?

LINA KHATIB: I don't think so. Some may see it as that because Mahmoud Abbas has not really been playing a very prominent role in what's going on right now. But I think it's actually the opposite.

If anything this attack on Gaza by Israel has shown that the real way forward for the Palestinians is unity and Hamas itself has basically said that. And actually people from both sides, from the Palestinian Authority as well, have been saying that there's a real need for Palestinians to unite against, you know, basically aggression from outside as well as around a common cause.

MARK COLVIN: What do you think that Hamas has been able to do to reassure president Morsi that the rocketing will stop? Because it's not just Hamas that's been rocketing out of Israel, it's Islamic Jihad and others.

LINA KHATIB: Yes, absolutely. I mean, Islamic Jihad is operating sometimes on its own and sometimes with the blessing of Hamas. It depends.

But I think now the stakes are really high and Hamas I think knows very well that its own legitimacy, if it's going to maintain the support of this new ally, because Morsi is a new ally, before under Mubarak, you know, Egypt could be considered an ally in the same way, I think they will do everything they can in order to not let Morsi fail.

MARK COLVIN: And what are the implications of a strengthened Egypt for the rest of the region, obviously, particularly Syria?

LINA KHATIB: Well I think a strengthened Egypt can only be a good thing for the region. A strengthened Egypt means a better opportunity for reconciliation, more actors in the region that are working towards basically peace in the region.

You have Qatar playing a very prominent role in mediation. You have Turkey, a non Arab country also trying to play a very key role in Syria and elsewhere. And now Egypt, if it claims its position as a country able to effect change, able to mediate, able to cause some concrete change on the ground, I think it will increase its clout in other places in the region.

When it comes to Syria I think though the limit is, you know, the situation is more difficult for Egypt because in Syria it seems that the situation is heading towards some form of intervention, military intervention, one way or another. However, Egyptian leadership needs further firm recognition for the new National Reconciliation Coalition, the national coalition in Syria which is also a positive thing for the opposition there.

MARK COLVIN: Lina Khatib, of Stanford University's Program on Arab Reform and Democracy.